The River's Mother
by TomorrowNeverCame
Summary: The Doctor's Wife was by far one of the best episodes in the series, but I always wondered what would happen if River was in it. Personally, I would have liked her to have been. I wondered what Idris would have to say about her, and what spoilers she might give away since at this point no one knows who River is. Because the Tardis isn't just the Doctor's wife. She's River's mother.
1. Hello, Sweetie

**So, this is a short story I made based on the episode The Doctor's Wife. It's basically the same, only I always wished that River had been in that episode because the Tardis is kind of her mother, and she has a strong connection to it like the Doctor. I wondered what her reactions would be like and also what the Tardis might say about her-especially since at that point in the series the Doctor and the Ponds don't know who she is yet. It will probably have less than 10 parts, nothing too long I dont' think. Anyways, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything but a Series 6 dvd and sonic torch.**

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Idris was led through the room, her hand resting comfortingly in Auntie's. Her grip tightened as they approached the platform.

"Will it be me, Uncle?" She asked the patchwork man nervously.

"Yeah, it's gonna be you," Uncle confirmed with a grin. "I only wish I could go in your place, idris," he continued, a thoughtful look on his face as he considered, "no, I don't, 'cause it's really gonna hurt!" Nephew took her other arm and he and Auntie led her up the steps.

"It's starting," she gasped.

"What will happen?" She asked in a shaking voice.

"Oh," Auntie cleared her throat, "Nephew will drain your mind and your soul from your body and leave your body empty." She explained. Nephew had gone up while she was talking and now clamped his large hands around her head. Idris' eyes widened if fear.

"I'm scared," she choked out, hands twitching at her sides.

"I expect so, dearie," Auntie muttered. "But soon you'll have a new soul." A sickly green light pulsed around Idris, growing in intensity until it engulfed her. "_There'll be a Time Lord comin'!"_

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"-And then we discovered it wasn't the robot king after all," The Doctor told Rory, twirling around the console and pressing buttons as he piloted them through space, "it was the real one." He smiled sheepishly. "Fortunately, I was able to reattach the head."

Rory, sat on one of the console chairs, turned to Amy as she walked down the stairs. "Do you believe any of this stuff?" He asked his wife incredulously.

"I was there," Amy told him. Rory opened his mouth to reply when an alarm started going off.

"Oh, it's the warning lights," The Doctor whined, shouting and pounding at the console. "I'm getting rid of those-they never stop!" While he ran around the console, hitting buttons and levers and trying to make _something _happen, Rory got up and approached his wife, who looked at the Doctor with lingering grief.

"Hey," he called softly as he took her hand, "you're thinking about it again, aren't you?"

"Shh!" Amy hissed, shooting a wary glance to make sure the Doctor was still occupied. Turning back to Rory she said, "we saw him die."

"Yeah, _two hundred years _in the future," Rory reminded her. Yes, it was terrible, but their Doctor was _here_. Safe for a long while yet.

"Yes, but it's still going to happen!" Amy replied in anguish. Rory only squeezed her hand tighter in response. Both their heads snapped up when they heard a knocking at the door. Amy walked up the console stairs to join the Doctor.

"What was that?" She asked, arms crossed and a serious expression on her face.

"The door," the Doctor blinked back at her, bemused. "It knocked."

"Right," Rory drawled, "we are in deep space." His expression was unbelieving, even though there was no doubt that they had all heard a knock on the door.

"Very, very deep," The Doctor agreed, approaching the door cautiously. People had been known to come knocking on his door on occasion, but that tended to happen when they were landed somewhere. Where there could actually be someone to knock. In other words, not space. And yet….."somebody's knocking!" With a flourish he threw the doors open, his eyes lighting on the glowing white box hovering outside.

"Oh, come here you _scrumptious _little beauty!" He bounced back with a smile, the box zipping around the room. It zoomed back to him too fast and got him in the head. Catching it, he smiled.

"A box." Rory said.

"I've got mail!"

"Doctor, what _is _that?" Amy asked, wide-eyed.

"Time Lord Emergency Messaging System," he replied, carrying the box up to the console as he continued, "in an emergency, we wrap up out thoughts in psychic containers and send them through time and space." He spun to face his bewildered Ponds with a wide grin. "Anyway, there's a _living Time Lord _still out there and-" A sound like thunder filled the console and in a flash of light, a new figure appeared.

"Hello, sweetie. I see you found my box." River Song had arrived in the Tardis.

"_You're_-What?-River, you can't-Hang on, how did you even-and what are you _wearing?_" The Doctor stammered, hands fluttering about as he walked around the curly-haired woman. River just smiled serenely and waited for him to calm down, shoulders slightly shaking with silent laughter.

"Are you quite finished?" She asked once he quieted. She stood with arms crossed, leaning against the console, hair loose and tumbling down around her shoulders. The glittering gold ball gown she wore pooled around her feet, a thick strap covering one shoulder but leaving the other bare.

"River!" Amy embraced the older woman warmly and they pulled back with smiles on their faces. "Your look gorgeous!" She exclaimed, gesturing to her outfit. River laughed and thanked her. Rory waved awkwardly from his position by the stairs while the Doctor still looked flustered by her sudden arrival.

"Yes, yes, that's all very nice," the Doctor interrupted, coming to his senses and stepping between the two women, "_very _nice," he mumbled, eyes flicking down her form and back to her amused eyes. "But how did you even get here? We're in deep space!" In reply she held up the vortex manipulator strapped to her wrist, which he immediately grabbed and soniced. "Even with a vortex manipulator that's still-it should be impossible so what have you done?" He questioned rapidly.

"Like you said, _should be _impossible, but not quite. Not for someone who knows the Tardis like I do." She smiled secretively when his eyes narrowed and with a jump he realized how close they'd become-his hand still holding onto her wrist and his nose nearly touching hers. He stepped back hastily, glaring at Amy when he noticed her amused expression.

"As for the box," she continued, ignoring the Doctor's sudden nervousness (he didn't bother thinking about the fact that she'd seemed perfectly comfortable in their earlier position), "I sent it to you."

"But this is Time Lord technology, where could you have gotten-,"

"I didn't. I only sent it to you after I found it drifting along outside the atmosphere of Hellaxia, where I'd just said goodbye to another you. Figured if I could sent it out after you…but it seems I've got it wrong again, haven't I?" She asked, taking in every detail of his too-young face.

"Hellaxia? What were you-we-never mind! That's near the Rift! Oh, that's _brilliant! _There's a Timelord out there and it's one of the good ones!" He laughed, already running around the console and preparing to send them off. Amy and Rory hurried over to stand by River, who looked much less confused than they did.

"Doctor, you said there weren't any Time Lords left." Rory pointed out. Standing to the side, River bit her bit her lip, realizing that wherever her family was in their timelines, they didn't know who or what she was yet.

"There aren't any Time Lords left anywhere in the universe," he confirmed, "but the universe isn't where we're going!" He tossed the glowing cube to Amy, who studied it closely, "see the snake? It's the mark of the Corsair-Fantastic bloke, he had that snake as a tattoo in every regeneration-didn't feel like himself unless he had that tattoo. Or herself, a couple of times. Ooh, she was a bad girl!" He spun around the controls and slammed his hand on a button, sparks showering from the console. With a jolt they were moving, everyone grabbing quickly to the railings.

"Doctor! What's happening?" Rory shouted. He and Amy clung to each other, looking scared by the Doctor's mad laughs, but he ignored them and smiled at River who was doing her own piloting on the other side of the console. She smiled back with bright, excited eyes.

"We're leaving the universe!" They shouted back to the couple.

"How can you leave the universe?" Amy snapped, resisted the turns and tumbles of the Tardis.

"With enormous difficulty!" The Doctor shouted. As the Tardis shook and roared, the Doctor frowned. "Right now I'm burning up Tardis rooms to give her a boost. River," She nodded and the pair started furiously moving around the control board.

"Goodbye, swimming pool!" The Doctor cried. River narrowed her eyes at that, though she knew he'd get a new one (minus the library). "Goodbye, scullery! Sayonara, squash court 7!" The Tardis console exploded with sparks and Amy screamed as she and Rory hit the railings hard. The Doctor was flung into River and they both hit the floor painfully, hanging on for dear life. "Hello, Rift!"

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**So! Hope you liked my renditions to the first part, more to come soon. Please review!**


	2. Idris

**Thank you so much for all the reviews, alerts, and favorites I've gotten for the first chapter! I'm very glad so many people like this already!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything**

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"Okay, okay," Amy panted, "where are we?"

"Outside the universe. Where we've never, ever been." A low drone filled the Tardis as the lights dimmed and shut off.

"Is that meant to be happening?" Rory asked warily.

"The power-the power's….draining. Everything's draining but it can't-it can't-that's _impossible_." He gapped and fiddled with the controls, trying to make something, _anything_ work.

"What is that?" River choked out, a sense of dread creeping over her.

"It's like the matrix-the heart and soul of the Tardis-has just vanished!" He looked around as if the answers lie hidden somewhere in the dark corners of his ship. "Where would it go?"

Somewhere on the asteroid, Idris arched off the floor and golden light spilled from her mouth.

"Right," River started, her voice low and hushed, "if we're going out there, I want to be prepared." She looked to the Doctor for permission and, though he narrowed his eyes in question, he nodded. She lifted her skirts and took the stairs up and out of the console room. She paused at the entrance to the unusually dark and cold hallway before steeling herself and continuing.

"Amy." The Doctor called, his eyes on River, "go with her?"

"Yeah, okay." Amy nodded, running after her friend.

"Doctor, what happened to the Tardis?" Rory demanded.

"I…I really don't know," He admitted softly, staring at the console with a lost look.

"Alright," River and Amy returned looking tense; the former had swapped her elaborate dress for a pair of form-fitting jeans, hiking boots, and a loose white button-down over her Tardis-blue tank top. A gun holster was slung low around her hips. "Doctor, any idea what we can expect out there?" She and Amy both had thick jackets hung over their arms, and Amy passed one to Rory.

"Um, no. No idea. But, isn't that the best? Love surprises!" He clapped his hands in mock-cheerfulness, but River could see the underlying worry in his gaze. "Alright, gang, off we go!" He leapt down the stairs, followed more cautiously by his companions. River stood at his shoulder, Amy and Rory hanging behind her. The Doctor peeked out the door and when the coast seemed clear, stepped outside. Soon they were all looking around.

"So what kind of trouble's your friend in?" Amy asked, picking her way through a pile of old kitchen supplies.

"He was in a bind-sort of a pickle-bit of….distress." He fumbled.

"Ah, you can just say you don't know," Amy teased.

"So what is this place?" Rory asked, "Scrap yard at the end of the universe?"

"Not end of, outside." River corrected.

"How can we be outside the universe? The universe is everything."

"Imagine a great big soap bubble," The Doctor explained, "with a little bubble attached to the outside."

"Okay."

"But it's nothing like that." River rolled her eyes at Amy, making her smile. "Completely drained, look at her!" He walked around the Tardis with a frown.

"Wait, so we're in a tiny bubble universe sticking to the outside of the bigger bubble universe," Amy asked.

"Yes. No! But if it helps, yes." Amy shook her head in exasperation. "This place is full of rift energy-she'll probably refuel just by being here," the Doctor muttered to himself. "Now, this place, what do we think? Gravity's almost earth-normal, air breathable, but it smells like….."

"Armpits," Amy chimed in, wrinkling her nose in disgust.

"Armpits!"

"What about all this stuff, where did this come from?" Rory questioned.

"Oh, there's a rift, now and then stuff gets sucked through it. Not a bubble, a black hole. The universe has a plughole and we've just fallen through it."

"Thief! Thief! You're my thief!" All four of them turned in the direction of the new voice approaching. Amy and Rory inched together, and River placed a hand securely on her gun. Within moments the owner of the voice came into view. She had dark, wild hair and wore a tattered Victorian gown. The Doctor heard River's gun powering up behind him quickly spun around, striding over to her and putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Do not shoot unless I tell you," he murmured in her ear. She looked unhappy but nodded.

"I'll do what I think is necessary," she replied warningly.

"She 's dangerous! Guard yourself!" Two more people, a man and woman dressed in rags, hurried behind.

"Thief!" The dark-haired woman exclaimed, throwing herself at the stunned Doctor. "Goodbye-no, that's not right-what's the other one?" she suddenly pulled him close with surprising strength and kissed him messily. His arms flailed wildly as he tried to push her off.

"Careful! Keep back!" The man warned, the new couple pulling her off the Time Lord and restraining her.

"Welcome, strangers, lovely." The man spoke. "Sorry about the mad lady."

"Why am I a thief? What have I stolen?" The Doctor, curious, questioned the 'mad lady'.

"Me!" She exclaimed, "You will steal me-have stolen me-are stealing me-oh, tenses! They are difficult, aren't they?"

"Oh, we are sorry, my dove. She's quite mad." The yellow-haired woman excused, taking the Doctor's hand. "You call me Auntie."

"I'm Uncle," the man introduced himself next, "I'm everybody's Uncle. Just keep back from this one-she bites!" He joked.

"Do I?" The mad woman blinked, looking delighted with this new information about herself. "Excellent!" She broke free and grabbed onto the Doctor again, teeth sinking into his neck. Amy and Rory and the new people were all shouting at her to stop but the Doctor couldn't shake her until River finally put away her gun and wrestled him free, standing protectively in front of him.

"Biting's excellent, it's like kissing only there's a winner!" Her eyes fixed on River and the Doctor, standing close behind her, "I see why you like it." The Ponds looked at him curiously, eyebrows raised identically at her comment. The Doctor flailed about a bit, looking uncomfortable, and River at least had the good grace to blush, shifting her gaze away from his curious one.

"And you!" The crazy woman continued, suddenly grabbing River's arms and pulling her forward. "My water! Mad, clever, pretty water-just as mad as him. My mad thief and his pretty water-oh," she froze suddenly, her face falling, "you don't want him. You need him. Not yet-no, not now-wrong time. I am trying-do try-but no one listens-I don't like them to hurt. It hurts you-always pain when you go away-always closer to the end but close now, very soon now, will be happy-he will-but _you_-" Uncle and Auntie pulled her back, leaving a wide-eyed River standing there. She let out a harsh breath and pressed her hands together tightly. The Doctor saw they were shaking. He had watched their interaction closely but found it to make even less sense than anything else she'd said.

"I'm sorry, she's dolally," Uncle apologized, looking far to amused to actually be sorry.

"No, I'm not dolally," the woman argued, "I'mmmm….I'mm….." she hummed as if she couldn't get the words out, "It's on the tip of my tongue. Oh! I've just had a new idea about kissing," she smiled, "come here, you!" She pounced on the Doctor again.

"Idris, no!" Uncle roared at her, he and Auntie tearing her off the strangers once again.

"Oh, but now you're angry." Idris gasped. Amy stepped in front of the Doctor like a shield, while Rory and River moved to opposite points behind them.

"No, you're not." Amy countered.

"No, you will be angry." Idris repeated, something strange in her tone. "The little boxes will make you angry," she said ominously.

"Sorry, the little what? Boxes?" The Doctor snapped, pushing past the Scot and onto Idris, but she just laughed and grabbed his face.

"You're chin is hilarious!" She giggled, then looked at Rory.

"It means the smell of dust after rain."

"What does?" Rory asked.

"Petrichor," she replied like it was obvious.

"But I didn't ask." He pointed out.

"Not yet," she countered, eyes flicking back to the Doctor, "but you will."

"No, now, Idris, I think you need a rest," Auntie suggested.

"Yes, rest, yes, yes, good idea. I'll just see if there's an off switch." Idris agreed, collapsing instantly and setting off a new round of shouting from everyone.

"Is that it? She's dead now?" Uncle groaned. Rory, ever the nurse, immediately bent to check her pulse and breath.

"She's still breathing," he reported.

"Uh, Nephew, take Idris somewhere she cannot bite people, hm?" Uncle motioned forward a fourth, unnoticed newcomer and the Doctor broke out into a grin.

"Oh, hello!" Amy jumped back from the creature, startled by its glowing green eyes and face of tentacles.

"Doctor, what is _that_?" She demanded.

"Oh, it's alright, it's an Ood!" The Doctor replied excitedly, "Oods are good, love an Ood. Hello, Ood!" He bounced over to the alien and the Ponds inched forward. River flicked curious eyes to the creature but kept watch on the other strange people. "Can you talk?" The Ood held up it's unlit globe. "Oh, I see, it-it's, uh, damaged. May I?" It nodded. "Might just be on the wrong frequency."

"Nephew was broken when he came here," Auntie told him, "he was, uh, half dead. House repaired him-he's repaired all of us." With a click of his sonic, the strange ball lit up, and voices filled the air.

"_If you are receiving this message please help me." _The man's urgent voice called out, many others overlapping in the background."_Send the signal to the High Council of the Time Lords of Gallifrey. Tell them I'm still alive! I don't know where I am-I-I" _All the voices grew and blended together, until suddenly Nephew turned it off.

"What was that? Was that him?" Amy questioned, anxious gaze flicking uncertainly between The Doctor and River's stricken expressions. The older woman stepped forward and placed a small hand on The Doctor's shoulder.

"Doctor?" River asked in a shaking voice, "That was-" He snapped out of his daze, eyes still fixed on the Ood sphere.

"No," he answered Amy, "no, it's, uh, picking up something else. But that's-that's not possible. That's-that's-who else is here?" He demanded, turning suddenly on Auntie and Uncle. "Tell me, show me. Show me!"

"It's-it's just what you see." Auntie stuttered. "Just the four of us and the House," she added, "Nephew, will you take Idris somewhere safe where she can't hurt nobody?"

"What's the House?" River asked sharply.

"House is all around you, my sweets! You are standing on him. This is the House! This world! Would you like to meet him?" Auntie smiled like she was sharing a great secret.

"Meet him!" Amy cried. River turned and hushed her.

"I'd love to." The Doctor said.

"This way, come on. Please, hm?" Uncle waved them forward, leading the way.

"What's wrong?" Amy asked River, who was looking at the Doctor with an unreadable face. "What were those voices?"

"Time Lords." The Doctor said hoarsely. "It's not just the Corsair. Someplace nearby there are lots and lots of….._Time Lords_."

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**Remember, reviews are love! I'll try to get at least one more chapter before I leave on vacation Saturday, since I don't think I'll have internet all of next week. But it will give me lots of time to write! 3**


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